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Wednesday, 27 April 2011

PSN Outage Reaches a Week - Sony Releases Info

After a week of relatively little news (probably owing to the fact that Sony themselves had little idea what was going on) we have finally managed to squeeze a bit of info out of the Japanese conglomerate regarding the PSN outage.

On the Playstation Blog, Patrick Seybold - Senior Director of Corporate Communications and Social Media, released the following statement:

Thank you for your patience while we work to resolve the current outage of PlayStation Network & Qriocity services. We are currently working to send a similar message to the one below via email to all of our registered account holders regarding a compromise of personal information as a result of an illegal intrusion on our systems. These malicious actions have also had an impact on your ability to enjoy the services provided by PlayStation Network and Qriocity including online gaming and online access to music, movies, sports and TV shows. We have a clear path to have PlayStation Network and Qriocity systems back online, and expect to restore some services within a week. We’re working day and night to ensure it is done as quickly as possible. We appreciate your patience and feedback.

Then, printed below was a lengthy message to all PSN users. It advised them that certain pieces of information had been leaked: "name, address (city, state, zip), country, email address, birthdate, PlayStation Network/Qriocity password and login, and handle/PSN online ID" and that they couldn't be sure that further information hadn't also been snatched (ie, financial information, credit card details and data on purchases). For the large part that email warns users to err on the side of caution; checking with their banks to ensure there are no suspicious packages of funds being released from their accounts, changing their PSN/Qriocity password as soon as the system is back up and running etc.

It is frank and honest and I suppose thats what we need. Sony have, at least, admitted that this isn't going to be easy, that some vital information is at risk and that they are aware that a lapse in their security may affect their 70 million or so customers who interact with the PSN on a regular basis. Even so; there is a notable air of tension in the PSN community - people recognise that this is a serious breach of security and needs addressing fully before Sony can think about rereleasing the network - but it couldn't have come at a worse time; with Portal 2 and Mortal Kombat having just been released, British bank holidays, Easter Holidays etc etc - people are itching to get back online and start playing.

As I'd said on Twitter, there had been rumours that the network would be back up and running by tomorrow evening. With this new information being released, I really can't see the system being back before the weekend - no Portal 2 multiplayer for me!

ps. Thanks to Tasha Darke for pointing me in the direction of this blog post! I'll stop moaning on Twitter now.